3 Weeks Down, 37 to Go!

Where do I begin? Things have been really crazy, as I've been traveling and out of Phnom Penh most of the week which left me very little time to update you all on what I've been doing - sorry! A lot has happened, but I'm going to attempt to recap everything...

Trip to the Village
Last week the transition to the new office was complete, officially kicking off the project! The week began with meetings, brainstorming, and general preparation for the project, which of course are not the most exciting tasks, but the fact that work was beginning was enough for me. Later in the week we received a phone call from one of the girls who was previously enrolled in the program telling us that she just had a baby and needed help. The next day a few of us made the long 9 hour bus ride to the village where she lives to provide support and talk to her about how to take care of a baby. It was an incredible experience going into the village, seeing what it's like, and observing the interactions between the Cambodian social workers and the girl. From an outside perspective the instructions given to her might have seemed very simple and obvious - give the baby a bath 2 times a day, make sure she sleeps in a mosquito net, etc. - but for a 19 year old who has had a difficult and traumatic childhood, these things are not innately understood and can be quite overwhelming. After a couple of hours visiting her, we all left, went to sleep, and got back on the bus the next morning for another long journey back to Phnom Penh.

Funny side note about our time in the village - the other intern and I had to get on the back of a moto together which as you can imagine, was well, interesting. We westerners are much bigger in stature than most Cambodians, so where you will see 4 Cambodians on one moto, you don't want to see 4 westerners on one moto. We were trying to get to the house we were visiting, and with all of the rain the roads were extremely muddy making it quite slippery. As I was struggling to not fall off the back of the moto, we passed by a group of people sitting and eating - they said hello, we responded, and then they all proceeded to burst into laughter. While it doesn't do a lot for your self-esteem, I'd imagine it was quite entertaining to see two western girls on the back of a moto which was bouncing up and down as it was struggling to make it through the mud without falling off. Then to build my self-esteem even more, when we were visiting the girl and her baby there were a bunch of adorable kids who were hanging around and laughing hysterically every time I looked at them. After about an hour of these little kids looking and laughing, I asked the Cambodian social worker what they were saying, and he proceeded to tell me that they were laughing at my pointy nose. Gosh it makes you feel awesome about yourself, but it makes a lot of sense. Western noses are much different in shape than people of Asian decent, so for a child who has probably never seen a westerner, a pointy nose would look pretty silly!

Holiday in Sihanoukville
After the trip to the village, I went to the beach in Sihanoukville for a few days with 11 other people living and working here. Everyone had work off this past week because Cambodia pretty much comes to a stand-still to celebrate Pchum Ben, a Buddhist holiday, so we decided to take advantage of the time off and go relax at the beach. It was a lot of fun and was incredible to just sit, read, get a massage on the beach for $5, and sleep. The time made me feel somewhat guilty because I just barely arrived and already I get to go on vacation? Although I felt bad, I did my best to just enjoy it because who knows when I will be able to relax like that again. Work is going to get much busier and with all of these new emotions I've been experiencing and struggling with, it was nice to get away for a few days and just be still.

Back to Reality
After a great time at the beach, it was time to come back to Phnom Penh. My first day back at "work" was one of the coolest days thus far. I got to accompany the girls currently living at the shelter to the water park in the city for a fun day out. Don't really know how to explain it, but it was such an incredible experience getting to play in the water, go down the slides, laugh with the girls as I kept falling and flipping out of the inner tubes as I was going down the slides at a unexpectedly fast pace, and watching them smile and just have an genuinely fun time. To say the least, the day was amazing, and I don't really know how else to explain it.

Now it's back to work on the computer, and at the beginning of next week when life picks up again after the holiday I get to start language tutoring!! I am truly looking forward to learning the language, and have actually gotten rid of most of my nerves and reservations about trying to learn a language that is very different than any I've ever been exposed to before. A few people who have helped teach me a few words have been quite surprised and have told me that I speak it very well and sound like a Cambodian girl! I probably wouldn't go that far, but either way I am excited!